Frozen Holes in the Ground: A Winter Hike to Inyo Craters

Mammoth Mountain

 

 

Date: November 25, 2022

Place: Inyo Craters, Mammoth Lakes, California

Coordinates: 37.681829, -118.994695

Length: 4 miles (including the road to the trailhead)

Level: easy 

 

The chikas have a break from school for the entire Thanksgiving week. Pappa Quail had travelled a lot last summer and didn't wish to go on yet another trip, so I booked a week at Mammoth Lakes for just the chikas and myself. I was optimistic because when I booked this trip there was not an inch of snow yet. Bit we got lucky and a nice snow storm rolled in before we traveled. We skied for five days straight and at the chikas request we dedicated the last two days of our stay there to hiking.

Following recommendations from the Eastern Sierra group, we went to see the Into Craters, a few miles north of Mammoth Lakes, off the scenic loop road.

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The trail itself is less than a mile long, but the road leading to the trailhead was blocked for winter. The snow covered road was nicely groomed tough, and we decided to leave the snowshoes behind and walk with our regular winter boots. 

 

It was a brilliant morning. Chilly at start but sunny and bright. Soon we warmed up from the walk and the top jackets came off.  There was only one more car parked at the blocked road entrance and we met only two people with their dogs on the groomed snow road. The peace and solitude was great. 

While I was interested in the hike and everything that came with it, the elder chika was interested primarily in the local birds. She had specifically asked that we'd spend time in this area near the Minaret Road that leads t the ski resort's Main Lodge because she'd seen a large hawk there on one of the days we came up to ski, and she hoped to see that hawk again. While we didn't see the hawk, we did see plenty of other birds on this hike.  

Mountain Chickadee 

Not all birds fly south in winter, and not all mammals go into hibernation. There were chipmunks and squirrels about, as we could tell from their tracks in the snow. We also got to see a few of the small forest rodents as well.    

Chipmunk

 

We were walking through a primarily conifer forest of pines and firs. Every now and then we'd pass a stand of aspens that were all bare, of course.  

 

 

Little mountain chickadees were active all around us. The elder chika had fun photographing them. Even I managed a few photos but hers came out better. 

Mountain Chickadee

They were hanging down pine cones and some of them dropped down topick something from the snow. Looking closer at the brown specks on the snow I saw that many of them were pine nuts. 

Pine Nut

The roar of engines from behind disturbed our peace. We turned to see a group on snowmobiles coming down the groomed road towards us. We waved to one another and few seconds after, they were gone. Later we run into two more groups of snowmobiles but we were already aware that there was that kind of traffic around and we were watchful.

 

 

The latest snow has been more than a week before our hike but the snow off the trail still looked pristine. White coating covered fallen logs, and pretty much everything. The standing trees however, had already shaken off their load of snow.

 

After less than an hour of easy walk on a groomed snow road we reached the actual trailhead for the Inyo Craters. By the trailhead was a large sign describing the formation of the craters. A oath of footprints in the snow marked where people have walked up and it was then that I regretted not having brought the snow shoes because the snow was deeper and the trail not groomed. We walked on it anyway,going slowly trying to fit our feet into the sunken footprints of the people that had walked there before us. Most of the time it worked but occasionally we sunk into the snow about knee high.

Inyo Craters Trail

The elder chika spotted a red-breasted nuthatch, a lovely little forest bird that we often see when hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

 

 The little bird was busy poking into dead tree branches and I wondered if it there were any grubs to be grabbed at this time of the year.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

The person who wrote the recommendation of the Inyo Crater Trail described the crater lakes distinct in their colors, one having blue and the other green water. When we reached the craters the little lakes inside were frozen through and snowed over so no water color was visible. Another thing that we saw when we got to the first crater was a wide, groomed road leading to it from approximately the same direction from where we came. My young chika, who was struggling up the foot path gave my a reproachful look. I shrugged and said that we'll be going down on the groomed trail. 

The south Inyo Crater

We sat on a flat, snow-free rock  near the rim fence and looked down and around. There was no trail going down and the fence was there to keep people from getting too close to the edge. I read the information sign that was posted nearby. It sad that the craters were formed about 500 years ago by steam explosions that happened when rising magma heated the ground water table. A fascinating process.

The south Inyo Crater

I wanted to go take a look at the second crater but the chikas didn't want to go any further, so I left them sitting by the rim rail and went up the groomed trail in the direction of Deer Mountain on my own.

Deer Mountain

The second crater is adjacent to the first one, a bit to the north. On the way I passed evidence that this place is well visited during summer.

The second crater had no fence and I had to be careful not to get too close to the edge while walking on the rim. 

The view down the second crated was obstructed by large pine trees that were growing on the inner slopes of the crater. It is interesting that although both craters were formed at about the same time, one is nearly bare from vegetation while the other is forested. Below, between the trees, I saw the frozen lake of the second crater. Here too, there was no path leading down.

The north Inyo Crater

I looked around for a few minutes, then turned to walk back to the first crater, where I left the chikas. From the rim of the north crater I had an excellent view of Mammoth Mountain. That view alone was an excellent reason to have hiked there.

While I explored the north Inyo Crater, the elder chika was busy photographing a Clark's nutcracker, a type of jay that's common in the high elevation and lives there year-round.

The bird, which usually sits high in the trees, cooperated with my chika and dropped down to sit on a rock by the crater.

Clark's Nutcracker

As I came down from the other crater I found my elder chika stalking a ground squirrel until she got a photo of the pretty little rodent.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

The loud noise of snowmobile engine came to our ears again, and soon two snowmobiles appeared, carrying each a woman and a toddler. We waved to one another, then they continued up to the second crater. I called the chikas and we started down the groomed trail. Coming up the trail were a few more people, but they were much quieter - they were going on cross-country skis.

As it turned out, the groomed trail led us directly to the snow road. We made fast progress from there, taking only brief pauses to sip water and take photos.

Squirrel tracks

A single pine cone was on the snow near the trail. It was perfect shape. It was also open and empty of seeds/ I thought about how many creatures depend on the pine nuts for their living, especially through the winter. The birds we saw definitely depended on them for their survival.

Jeffery Pine Cone

As we made our way back we came across many more people who were making their way on foot or on cross country skis up the snow road. I was glad that we got there earlier and had the morning's peace before the crowds arrived.

I'm sure that on a spring or summer hike of this trail we would have seen not only the crater lakes' colors but also more wildlife and wildflowers too. Winter hiking however, has its own charm and its lovely to walk in the snow and enjoy the kind of hum-free quiet (when no loud snowmobiles are zooming by). Winter wonderland is beautiful.